A Brief History of Deaconesses

The recognized service of women in the
Church dates from apostolic days. The term
diakonos—literally, “servant”—used both for deacons and, in the early
days, for deaconesses, is applied by St.
Paul (Romans 16:1) to “Phoebe, a diakonos
of the Church which is in Cenchraea.”
Through the letters of St. Chrysostom we
know that forty deaconesses were attached to
the principal church of Constantinople about
the year 400 A.D. There are other records of
deaconesses at Antioch and throughout the
East, and evidence that the Office was well
known in the Church by the 4th Century. In
the Middle Ages, the Office fell into
disuse for a variety of reasons.

Because of the social reforms that occurred in the 19th Century, a great need became apparent for such a ministry of women. Following the lead of Lutherans in Germany, the Order was revived in the Church of England by the Bishop of London in 1861, and in America by a canon of 1889 (PECUSA – Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America). In 1920, the Lambeth Conference urged restoration of the Order throughout the Anglican Communion. During this period Deaconesses led the way in missionary work, especially in America.

In
America, the Order was dissolved into the Diaconate in 1976
when the Episcopal Church approved the ordination of women to Holy Orders.
In other jurisdictions of the Anglican Communion, the Order of Deaconesses continues to serve alongside the clergy, even though some of those jurisdictions have also
accepted the practice of ordaining women.

When several thousand traditional Anglicans met together at the landmark Congress of St. Louis in 1977, to object to the abandonment of apostolic order in the Episcopal Church, the issue of Deaconesses was addressed. At that meeting a fundamental confessional charter, known as The Affirmation of St. Louis which binds Continuing (Traditional) Anglicans worldwide, was adopted. Recognizing the continuing need for a specialized ministry of women, it declares as one of the “essential principles of evangelical Truth and apostolic Order: The ancient office and ministry of Deaconesses as a lay vocation for women, affirming the need for proper encouragement of that office.” Since that time, a number of women have been admitted to the Office in traditional Anglican jurisdictions. In 2002, The Reformed Episcopal Church adopted a Canon to officially recognize the Order of Deaconesses and established requirements for candidacy (Canon 22, "Of Deaconesses").

"The Order of Deaconesses is an ancient and Apostolic vocation for lay
women in Christ’s Church. It is a Scripturally based, theologically
appropriate venue for women who feel called to ministerial service." -
from the Handbook for the Order of Deaconesses